Rebel Writers: The Accidental Feminists

'Make this your next inspirational read. Trust us, it's Oprah's Book Club worthy' Vice In London in 1958, a play by a 19-year-old redefined women's writing in Britain. It also began a movement that would change women's lives forever. The play was A Taste of Honey and the author, Shelagh Delaney, was the first in a succession of young women who wrote about their lives with an honesty that dazzled the world. They rebelled against sexism, inequality and prejudice and in doing so challenged the existing definitions of what writing and writers should be. Bypassing the London cultural elite, their work reached audiences of millions around the world, paved the way for profound social changes and laid the foundations of second-wave feminism. After Delaney came Edna O'Brien, Lynne Reid-Banks, Charlotte Bingham, Nell Dunn, Virginia Ironside and Margaret Forster; an extraordinarily disparate group who were united in their determination to shake the traditional concepts of womanhood in novels, films, television, essays and journalism. They were as angry as the Angry Young Men, but were also more constructive and proposed new ways to live and love in the future. They did not intend to become a literary movement but they did, inspiring other writers to follow. Not since the Brontës have a group of young women been so determined to tell the truth about what it is like to be a girl. In this biographical study, the acclaimed author, Celia Brayfield, tells their story for the first time.

Celia Brayfield is an author whose nine novels range from modern social fiction to international bestsellers. Her subjects are mostly women, working through changes in themselves and the world, and other themes are the psychogeography of London suburbs, media overshadow and British ex-pats abroad. This is her fifth non-fiction book and her earlier work includes a study of celebrity culture, travel writing and classic writing guides. She teaches Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Her first career was as a journalist, working mostly for The Times and the Evening Standard. Born in North London, she was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and briefly studied French language and literature at Grenoble University. She has one daughter and lives in Dorset.

Introduction Part One: Seven Writers 1. Innocence and Experience 2. A Man's World: Sexism 3. Forbidden Kisses: Class 4. All False: Love 5. 'I Wish I Had a Career': Aspiration 6. The Great Unmentionable: Sex 7. Drowning in Delight: Motherhood 8. A Rotten Bargain: Marriage 9. Good Old John: Race 10. Before the Urban Family: Friendship Part Two: Out into the World 11. 'Where is your Baby?' 12. Losing It at the Movies: Screen Adaptation 13. A Stain Upon Womanhood 14. The Angry Young Men: The Literary Movement That Never Was 15. Backwards in High Heels: Success And After 16. We Were Pioneers Epilogue Endnotes Bibliography Acknowledgements Index